Optima Batteries... Which "Blue Top" to use?

[Merge360]

Ok Club Sea Ray guru's....

I need some help.... I'm going to be replacing the battery in my 06 Sport 195... The current battery that is in it now is the original.... Almost 4 years old and will no longer hold a charge....

I've been thinking (and looking) about replacing the battery w/ an Optima (actually two...going to go with dual batteries and a perko switch).

After some research I've found that there are several "Blue Top" Optima's in their line-up....

So, I'm calling on the guru's of this fine website to point me in the right direction.... All opinion's welcome.... Good battery, bad battery, a better battery, etc... Please let me know!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Hampton]

Since you are going with two, cold cranking amps should not be an issue as long as your switch allows you to use both batteries at once. That being the case, I recommend the deep cycle blue tops (size to fit) because for boating, our biggest issue with batteries is running them down while listening to music, running the 'fridge (s), anchor lighting...

The advantage of deep cycle batteries is that the solid material within the battery is thicker than regular batteries. This makes it more durable, and therefore less likely to be damaged by deep cycling (running them down). The problem is that there is only so much space for the solid material, so thicker material means less surface area. Less surface area means less material available at any second (exposed to the acid bath) to create electricity. So, they do just as much work over time, but create less instantaneaous cranking amps (cold cranking amps).

I have had them in my boat for 18 months, and they are quite nice - zero maintenance too.

 

[Dave S]

I put Optima's D31M's in my Sea Ray. That's their top of the line blue top battery. If you are going to a dual battery set-up you might want to consider a deep cycle battery for your accessories while you are on the hook and a starting battery for the engine itself. Match your CCA and Reserve to what you currently have in the boat or go up a "notch" or two for your starting battery. On your deep cycle battery you may be fine with the D34M unless you have some killer amp draining sound system that you play on the hook.

This web site has good prices and a lot of information on the Optimas. http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/index.html#deepbluespecs